Chime for Change concert: 'BBC virtually ignored it', says promoter

Harvey Goldsmith, promoter of the charity concert which starred Beyonce,
Jennifer Lopez and Madonna, claims BBC shunned it in favour of Glastonbury.

By Telegraph reporter

11:20AM BST 02 Jun 2013

The Chime for Change concert, broadcast live on Saturday to a global audience of more than 1 billion live from Twickenham Stadium, was reduced to an hour and 20 minutes of "highlights" on BBC1 because the Corporation is more interested in sending staff on its annual "jolly' to Glastonbury, one of its promoters said today.

Harvey Goldsmith told the Mail on Sunday that he offered the BBC the rights to broadcast the event live but was turned down – despite its all-star line-up. Organised by the actress Salma Hayek, Gucci creative director Frida Giannini, and the singer Beyonce, the event was designed to launch a charity founded to "help millions of women and young girls around the world", said Mr Goldsmith.

The concert featured performances from Beyonce herself, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Ora, Jessie J and Florence + the Machine, as well as appearances from Madonna, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Hollywood actors Jessica Chastain and James Franco.

The BBC says it declined to broadcast the concert live because of the number of commercial sponsors involved, yet Mr Goldsmith is disappointed by the decison. "I thing all the BBC is interested in is Glastonbury," he said of the annual music festival which takes place later this month. "They have about five million people working on it. It's their jolly and everything else gets short shrift." This year, the BBC plans to send 296 staff to cover Glastonbury – 33 more than the 263 sent in 2011.